Mutinies and Merlings
by qwiksylver
Summary: "It was his eyes that made her realize what he was; they were predatory and black as ink. No human man had eyes like that. She noticed them even before she noticed the long, serpentine tail, just beneath the waves." (Oberyn/Lyanna, Merman/Pirate!AU)


This was written for a tumblr prompt I got for a merperson/pirate AU.

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Lyanna wasn't sure how she always got herself into such dangerous situations, but she did so without fail. She supposed it made sense. Being the captain of a pirate ship came with a number of dangers, and being a woman came with more. As woman _and_ a captian, it was shocking that she'd lived to turn one and twenty.

Her ship was her freedom, but it had cost her more than she had ever thought that it would. If truth be told, it had cost more than she would have ever been willing to pay.

After her father had announced that she was to marry Robert Baratheon, Lyanna had begged him to reconsider. When he refused to change his mind, she had run away to White Harbour and taken a ship from there. Just before she turned four and ten, she ended up in Pentos.

When she got there, she was horrified to learn that the Seven Kingdoms were at war. Brandon had assumed that she had been abducted by Rhaegar Targaryen because he had crowned her at Harrenhal. He had challenged the prince, and the king had declared it treason. Her father and brother were murdered by the Mad King, and sweet, quiet Ned, had called his bannermen to war. It was then that she realized that she could never go home. She had caused so much destruction with her selfishness. How could she ever face Ned or Benjen again?

On the docks of Pentos, she met with Kanja Xinn, the captain of a pirate ship from the Summer Isles. Kanja could speak the common tongue very well, but she was illiterate. So, she hired Lyanna to write the trading records for her ship. Lyanna was to take inventory from every plunder, and record the sales they made at every port. In return, Kanja allowed Lyanna to stay on board, and taught her everything she needed to know about ships.

Over the next few years, they became good friends. Even if Kanja never stopped teasing Lyanna for her 'northern prudishness' when it came to sex. Of the nearly thirty crew members, Lya was the only virgin older than four and ten.

By the time she was eight and ten, Lyanna knew enough to be a captain in her own right. So, when Kanja captured a trading vessel without damaging it, she gave it to Lyanna.

So, Lya sailed the seas in her_ Winter Rose, _and she gave a portion of her plunder to Kanja every time they met, in return for giving her the ship.

She still missed her family, but she never allowed herself to consider going back. How could she ever go home after her selfishness had caused the deaths of her father and eldest brother? Ned would never want her back in Winterfell. And with Robert as king… No, going back to the North was not an option.

Despite being a pirate, Lyanna still had her Stark sense of honour. Her crew only attacked rich merchant ships, and even then, if the crew of the other ship surrendered, they only took three quarters of the cargo. She couldn't stand the idea of completely ruining someone else's livelihood.

For three years, life was nearly perfect. She made good money selling her plundered spices and other treasures, and between raids, she explored the seas and coastlines of Westeros and Essos.

In the end, it was her generosity that ruined everything. Some of her sailors were discontent with not taking the full cargo from the ships they captured, and eventually, their greed caused them to stage a mutiny.

So here she was, stranded in the Sea of Dorne. Some of the crew members had only agreed to mutiny on the condition that she remained unharmed, so they had put her in a small skiff, and left her at sea. If they had asked Lyanna, she would have told them to kill her quickly, instead of leaving her to die of dehydration.

After a few hours adrift, she lay on the floor of the boat, feeling sick from the heat. She had taken down the small sail and used it to cover half of the skiff to protect herself from the lethal effects of the direct sunlight, but it was still insufferably hot.

When the sun began to lower in the sky, she decided it was time to put the sail up again. She knew that if she went south, she would eventually make it to the Dornish coast, which was much closer than any other shore. Perhaps she would even find an island with fresh water along the way. As she began to climb out of her makeshift shelter, she felt the boat lurch.

Her heart dropped into her stomach. Something had hit the bottom of her skiff, and whatever it was, it was fairly large. There were sharks in the Dornish Sea that could grow to be over twenty feet, and a shark that size would have no difficulty flipping her small skiff.

She quickly sat up and glanced around, trying to see if there were any fins visible above the water. A splash behind her caused her to whip her head around.

For a moment, she sat in shock. The creature holding onto the side of her skiff was certainly not a shark. It looked almost like a man, and a rather handsome man at that. His skin was the same swarthy tone as many dornishmen, and his hair was long and dark, receding from his brow in a widow's peak. It dripped water onto the deck of the boat.

It was his eyes that made her realize what he was; they were predatory and black as ink. No human man had eyes like that. She noticed them even before she noticed the long, serpentine tail, just beneath the waves. It was deep red in colour, and looked more like it belonged on a sea snake than a fish.

She has heard stories of the merlings from other sailors, but had never really believed in them. She had always assumed that if they had ever existed, they were now as dead as the dragons. Clearly, she had been wrong.

As she continued to stare, he grinned, showing sharp canine teeth that resembled fangs. "Didn't your parents ever teach you not to stare? It's rude, you know." His voice was smooth, and had a Dornish accent. When she couldn't find the words to respond, he began to laugh. "It's no wonder you were mutinied. A mute captain can't be much good for anything!"

The reminder of the loss of her ship snapped her out of her shock, and she glared at him. "Didn't _your _parents ever teach you not to mock people?" Too late, she remembered one of the tales she had heard, of merlings who drowned those who angered them.

To her relief, he just laughed again. "Well, they certainly_ tried_ to teach me, but it didn't work very well."

They stayed silent for a moment as Lyanna searched for something else to say. What does a person say when there is a living myth clinging to the side of their boat? She decided to go with something simple. "What's your name?"

"It isn't very polite to ask for someone's name without first giving your own."

She decided to push her luck. "I thought we'd already confirmed that neither of our parents managed to teach us manners," she quipped.

He looked at her for a moment before his grin returned, and he chuckled. "My name is Oberyn," he finally said.

"My name is Lyanna."

"Well Lyanna, it seems as though you're in a bit of trouble. Did your crew even leave you any fresh water? "

"Not much," She replied. The waterskin she had been given wouldn't last her more than three days, and it may take her much longer to reach land. Once again, she felt a flare of hatred for her former crew.

Oberyn continued to peer at her while he rested on the edge of the skiff, his sharp eyes seeming to inspect her carefully. Lyanna suddenly became aware of the fact that she had been mutinied in her light nightdress, and she flushed. "I could help you," Oberyn said. "I know of a small chain of islands nearby. I live there with my daughters."

Lyanna was once again shocked. In all of the myths she had heard, the merlings were fiercely protective of their offspring. It made no sense that he would let her anywhere near his daughters. "You would take me to where your children are? Why?" It was more likely that he would drown her as soon as she let her guard down.

He shrugged. "I heard your crew discussing why they had mutinied you. It's not often a pirate is so honourable. And it is even rarer that a woman is as fierce as they said you are. You should have heard them. Many wanted to kill you just so that there was no chance of you taking revenge on them!" He began to laugh again. "They sounded like frightened children!"

Lyanna frowned. He had to have some other motive than just helping her. "That still doesn't explain why you would be willing to let me near your daughters, especially if you know that I can be dangerous."

"Well, I am not going to do it for free."

There it was. "I had guessed as much," she said cautiously.

He looked her directly in the eyes, and she tried not to look away. "Did you know that there are only male merlings?"

She frowned thoughtfully. "I had heard that, but I didn't think it was true. How could you have daughters if it were?"

Oberyn grinned again. "My daughters are human, as were their mothers. If I'd had any sons, they would be like me. "

She stared at him with wide eyes. "Human women? How is that…" She glanced again at his serpentine tail. "How is that even physically possible?"

He was silent for a second before he began laughing so hard that he had to rest his forehead on the edge of the skiff. When he finally looked up at her, there were tears of mirth in his eyes. "I can assume a human form when I go on land," he explained once he had control of his laughter. "Their mothers never even knew what I am."

She sighed. "Well, thank you for clearing that up, but you still haven't told me what you want from me."

"As I said, my daughters are human. I wanted to raise them away from their mothers, so that I need not reveal what I am to them, but I failed to take into consideration that my daughters would need to be taught things that I know nothing of. My eldest is nearly a woman now, and I'm woefully under qualified to teach her anything about womanhood. My daughters need a woman teach them, and you are both fierce and honourable. I think they would like you."

"So you want me to teach your daughters?" She supposed that made enough sense.

"I want you to help me _raise_ my daughters."

Lyanna's eyes widened. _That _made no sense at all. "What? So – so you want me to live on an island, and raise your children?"

"Isn't that preferable to dying in this boat? I give you my word; as soon as my daughters are grown you will be free to leave."

Lyanna thought the offer over, even though he was right. She couldn't survive long on the sea in such a small skiff. The first storm she met would flip her, and that was if she didn't die of dehydration first. "This deal only applies to daughters you already have, right? You can't just keep bringing me more to raise."

"Of course."

"Well then… you have a deal."

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As always, please tell me what you thought. I love hearing from you guys!


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